Statistics from Southwest County's regional animal shelter in Wildomar show the operation took in fewer dogs and cats last year than in 2011, its first full year in business.

"This is the first year we've had less animals coming in, so that's a good thing," Animal Friends of the Valleys board President Kris Anderson recently told the board that oversees shelter financing.

When the nonprofit Animal Friends group opened the shelter on Mission Trail in 2010, representatives expected the number of animals initially would escalate after they had talked to San Diego animal authorities who had recently opened their own new shelter.

"They indicated that for the first couple of years you will have a spike in intakes because people see the nice, new facility and will have no problems dropping their animals off -- but it will level off," Anderson said in an interview.

Animal Friends' managers reasoned struggling residents unable to afford their pets might have been more reluctant to leave them at the old shelter consisting of rustic-looking outdoor kennels and trailers on a dusty Bastron Street lot.

The first full year of the new shelter's operation in 2011 bore out the projection, as it received 10,871 dogs and cats. That was 1,405 more than in 2010, when the shelter was housed at the Lake Elsinore locale for 10 months.

In addition to the lure of the new shelter, officials said the slumping economy probably contributed to rising numbers of abandoned pets taken in by animal control officers.

"We had more animals running around loose," said Mary Craton, a Canyon Lake councilwoman who is president of the financing board.

This last year, however, the number of sheltered animals dropped to 10,100, a 7.1 percent decrease. That relieves pressure to accommodate all the animals.

"The shelter should be the last resort," Anderson said. "This shelter shouldn't be the first option. It should be your last option."

Reducing the number of pets entering the shelter increases the likelihood that those who remain there will be saved, she said.

"The longer that we can hold an animal the better chance there is that they can be adopted by somebody," Anderson said. "If the facility is full and people keep bringing their animals in and we're holding stray animals, we can't keep them forever. They either live with a new family and are rescued, or they end up being euthanized, because the shelter is their last chance of finding a home."

Even with the spike in numbers after moving to the new shelter, the operators have increased the percentage of pets adopted while reducing the share that had to be put down. In 2010, 34.1 percent were adopted and 24.7 percent of adoptable animals were euthanized.

In 2011, the shelter increased the percentage of adopted animals to 37.5 percent and boosted that to 39.3 percent in 2012.

The percentage of placeable animals that were euthanized dropped to 16.2 percent in 2011 and 15 percent in 2012.

Animal Friends officials are hoping to improve on those figures with the opening of a clinic for low-cost spay and neuter surgeries at the old Bastron Street site. Anderson said they are hopeful it can be running by this month's end.

"At some time, we need to stop that cycle of animals not being fixed," she said.